Building record 4639/5/3 - Probable Former Stable Yard at Manor Farm

{1} Barns 4-8 comprise a U-shaped range of structures, built as a single-phase block, to the south of the farmhouse, consisting of stables, coach or carriage house and stores around three sides of a yard open to the south. It appears to be mid C19th in date.
Ironstone rubble walls form the south and west walls of a small yard 5.5m x 4.2m, Building 4. The south wall has been raised and this part roofed over in the C20th with cement and asbestos corrugated sheet (this to provide an open-fronted space, perhaps for carts).
Building 5 is of two storeys with ironstone rubble walls and occasional quoins. It is roughly 5.6m square, and roofed with blue-grey slate. There is a red brick chimney at the north gable which appears to serve the first floor only. On the first floor there is also a doorway opening, now blocked. Access through this cannot have been possible since the erection of Building 4. There are four symmetrically placed terracotta-built circular vents on the west wall, two serving the first floor, and two the ground floor. On the east wall there is evidence of two original window openings. At ground floor level a shallow segmental relieving arch of ironstone can be seen above the modern doorway, and the gap between this and the current lintel is infilled with coursed ironstone rubble bonded with grey cement mortar. There are no surviving internal fixtures or fittings.
Building 6 is a rectangular single storey building located to the north of Building 5 and south of Building 7. It is 5.6m x 4.6m and built of coursed ironstone rubble with a blue-grey slate roof with lead flashing. There is a single central doorway in the east wall and a single window in the west wall. There is evidence of a possible fireplace and chimney flue extending up the north gable wall, possibly served by the stack visible on the north gable end of the building. There are no surviving internal fixtures or fittings.
Building 7 is located at the north end of Building 6, forming the northern range of the building group. It is a single storey rectangular building 19.2m x 5.6m with a hipped roof covered in blue-grey slate and links to adjoining roofs are covered in lead sheet. The roof ridge carries two wooden vents, each about 0.3m square and 0.5m high. The west, north and east walls are of solid coursed ironstone with a band of long thin ironstone blocks forming a string course c.0.8m above the ground on the internal face. Above this the walls are of coursed ironstone rubble. The south wall is of coursed ironstone rubble on the exterior, internally faced with red brick laid in stretcher bond. The two doorways in the south wall are placed tightly against adjoining buildings and at either end of the yard formed between the U-shaped range of buildings. The doorway to the east contains a stable door. Close to each doorway and symmetrically placed is a window. In the opposite north wall are two identical and symmetrically placed windows, and both the east and west walls also contain an identical centrally placed window. South of the window in the west wall is a further doorway. There were few surviving internal fixtures or fittings following stripping of the cement rendering inside the building. At the west of the building a slightly raised floor had been created in concrete. This supported two moulded concrete feeding troughs against the north wall. Raised brick floors divided by slots indicate a former series of animal stalls along the length of the building.
Building 8 is located at the south-east corner of the building range, forming the east side of the enclosed yard area. It is a single storey rectangular building 5.4m x 4.4m of coursed ironstone rubble and with a blue-grey slate roof. The east wall has a single window opening. The west wall has a doorway opening, abutting against the south wall of Building 7. On the south wall was mounted a fireplace, on a brick-built chimney brace. The base of the accompanying stack is seen at the apex of the roof, but the remainder has been removed. There are no other surviving internal fixtures or fittings.

<1> McAree D., 2010, Archaeological Building Recording of Barns at Manor Farm, Milton Malsor, Northamptonshire, p.8-11 (checked) (Report). SNN107908.

Record last edited

Apr 14 2015 4:14PM